Article by
Barbados Today

Published on
April 14, 2016

West Indies Women’s captain Stafanie Taylor and Barbadian allrounder Deandra Dottin are among the stars who have signed up for the inaugural Women’s Super League in England that starts July 30.

Deandra Dottin will be heading to England shortly.

The tournament follows the lead of the Women’s Big Bash League and will feature six teams.

Taylor was the Player of the Tournament in the recently concluded ICC Women’s Twenty20 World Cup in India. She captained the regional side to their first winners’ trophy defeating Australia in the final.

Taylor, 24, will suit up for the Western Storm, while Dottin, 24, has signed on to the Lancashire Thunder Franchise.

Australia’s Women’s captain Meg Lanning and all-rounder Ellyse Perry are also among the star names to have signed up for the tournament.

Lanning will represent Surrey Stars, where she will be joined by Australia team-mate Rene Farrell and South Africa’s Marizanne Kapp.

“I’m really looking forward to playing in the Kia Super League,” Lanning said. “It’s another huge step forward for the women’s game following on from the Women’s Big Bash League in Australia, and I can’t wait to get stuck in with the Surrey Stars once the tournament gets underway.

“The interest in the Kia Super League and WBBL from overseas players demonstrates how valuable these new competitions are for the global development of women’s cricket – as international players, it’s a really good time to be involved in the game.”

Some of the other prominent names include New Zealand’s Suzie Bates and Sophie Devine. Bates, who captains the New Zealand side, was earlier this week named the leading women’s cricketer in the world for 2015 by Wisden.

“One of the driving principles behind the establishment of the Kia Super League was to create a world-class competition where the world’s best play. Revealing who the overseas players will be today undoubtedly hits this mark. The six teams are all brimming with talent, quality and the very best female cricketers from across the world; the Kia Super League is set to be a brilliant showcase for the women’s game,” England and Wales Cricket Board’s director of England women’s cricket, Clare Connor said.

“Over the last few weeks, we have worked extensively with the Kia Super League teams to select the overseas players from a pool of over 65 who expressed an interest in being involved this summer. To see the final allocations in black and white is very exciting and I cannot wait to see these teams in action now.”

Three overseas players will be present in each team but only 17 have been announced so far since Australia allrounder Jess Jonassen pulled out due to an injury. A replacement will be named shortly. With the leading England players also having been assigned their squads, the ECB will now make up the rest with players from the England Academy and the Development Programme.

The round-robin format ends on August 14 with the finals day scheduled on August 21. Yorkshire Diamonds will host Loughborough Lightning at Headingley in the tournament opener.